GardenGardenGarden 06/2006/20 InternationalInternational SchoolSchool InternationalInternational SchoolSchool February Eastern Seaboard, Ban Chang GardenGarden 06/2006/20 InternationalInternational SchoolSchool February Eastern Seaboard, Ban Chang Extreme Reading T h Te h eo f of if c f ii ac li a cl a cm a p m u ps u sn e nw e s w l es tl te et rt e o r f o G f a G r ad re dn e n I n tI ne rt ne ra nt ai o t ni oa nl a Sl c Sh co ho ol ,o l E, a Es at es rt en r nS e Sa eb ao ba or ad r d T h e o f f i c i a l c a m p u s n e w s l e t t e r o f G a r d e n Eastern Seaboard, Ban Chang I n t e r n a t i o n a l S c h o o l , E a s t e r n S e a b o a r d Whole School Open Day - 4th March 2020 - POSTPONED Secondary Sports - 6th March 2020 Well-being - 16th - 20th March 2020 Art Exhibition - 18th - 20th March 2020 Mufti Day International Day of Happiness - 20th March Lamda - 23rd - 27th March 2020 Secondary Senior Recital - 19th March 2020 Secondary Grade Cards Issued - 23rd March 2020 Primary Y2 Sports Day - 27th March 2020 By Mrs Dinah Hawtree Dear GIS Community February has been a particularly difficult month, with the ever-present threat of the corona virus, and as a school and community we have had to make some very difficult decisions during this time. Thank you to everyone for your understand- ing and support, and I am sure you will join me in hoping that this virus will soon be contained and that school life can return to normal. Although quite a number of activities were cancelled or postponed, there has still been a lot going on at school, as you will see later in this newsletter. Congratulations to all the students and staff who have been involved with any of the wonderful events and activities over the last month. I am delighted to now be able to present to you the new Heads of Primary and Secondary, who will be supporting your new Principal, David Figes, in leading the school from August 2020. Together, they present a highly experienced and talented team, and I am both pleased and relieved to be leaving GIS in such capable hands. New Head of Primary: Mrs Katherine Wharton After spending a number of years travelling around America and Australia, Katherine returned to University in the UK for the second time to study for her Bachelors in Education (Primary). She went on to teach in Buckinghamshire and Somerset for six years before moving to Brunei with her family. There, she worked for the Ministry of Education teaching English as a Second Language as well as being part of a team writing the new Curriculum for English for Primary Students. She also worked to train local teachers in the new curriculum as well as holding work- shops and training sessions for all teachers. After 3 1/2 years, they moved to Nanjing, China where she took the post of Year 4 teacher and then Head of Primary, a post she has held for the past 5 years. She had enjoyed an amazing five years, working with a group of talented and dedicated teachers and educators and she has been lucky enough to work with a team that has the same philosophy as her. First and foremost, as a teacher, she believes every child has a right to an education that allows them to be the best that they can be. However, alongside that she believes we all have a responsibility to make the very best of the education we are given. Katherine believes that a teacher is morally obligated to enter the classroom with only the highest of expectations for each and every one of his/her students. Katherine will be moving to Ban Chang with her husband, Simon, an experienced EAL and SEN teacher, as well as her daughter Delilah, who will be joining Year 7. Their son Harry will be visiting them on his Gap Year travels as he finishes his A levels this summer. Katherine and her family are all very much looking forward to this new chapter in their lives, and joining Garden International School is something they are all very excited about. They love Thailand and are looking forward to finding out more about the culture, and meeting and working with the staff and families at GIS. Katherine is particularly looking forward to working with the Primary team to further develop curriculum and assessment, building upon the excellent work that has already taken place, and helping drive GIS forward as a truly outstanding International school. New Head of Secondary: Mrs Jackie Houghton Jackie was born and educated in the United Kingdom. She holds a B.Ed (Hons) in Biology and Educational Studies from Liverpool University as well as a PGCE (Merit) Educational Studies International from Oxford Brookes University. She is a highly regarded educator with over 26 years’ experience in senior leadership positions at two of Thailand’s out- standing international schools. Jackie initially focussed on science and learning support positions and then developed her interest in student and staff wellbeing through key leadership roles which included Assistant Principal Student Welfare and Assistant Principal Professional Learning at Bangkok Patana School. She is currently working at St Andrews International School Bangkok as the Head of the Secondary School. She is an instructional leader who values child-centred education, where students are given the opportunity to learn from first- hand experience. She believes that students learn most effectively in an environment which develops high self-esteem and self- confidence. Successful learning happens when students, teachers and parents work together and share expectations and goals. Jackie is excited about joining GIS as she feels that her own values are reflected in the School’s mission and vision. Jackie visited Garden when it first opened in 1994 and during her recent visit was very impressed with its positive growth and development. It is clear to her that GIS is thriving and providing excellent opportunities for its students. She particularly enjoyed being shown around the campus by the student leaders who were extremely proud of their school. Jackie enjoys keeping fit through cycling, running, swimming and playing badminton. She is a keen member of a book club and loves travelling and exploring new places and cultures. She has three grown up children who were born and educated in Thai- land and completed their degrees in the United Kingdom. Although currently living in the UK, they enjoy coming home to Thailand and are excited about the prospect of visiting her and GIS when they next come to the Kingdom. I am sure that you are all looking forward to meeting David, Katherine, Jackie and all the new staff (details of whom I will pub- lish in the April newsletter) at our welcome evening in August. In the meantime, please look out for further updates on changes to our calendar due to coronavirus, and to other communica- tions regarding this issue. I hope very much that, by the time our next newsletter comes out, just before Songkran, we are able to look positively towards a more ‘normal’ term 3. Kindest regards Mrs Dinah Hawtree Long standing service award This month's long service awards were presented by our Principal, Mrs Hawtree to teaching assistants, Khun Nik and Khun Tim, who have served 15 and 10 years respectively. The lorax The Junior Production of "The Lorax" has been rescheduled to The lorax Thursday 2 April at 7pm. Tickets will be available in the front office from this week. It's going to be a fantastic show so make sure to get your tickets and support our key stage 2 and 3 per- Thursday formers. Please email Ms Jenn at [email protected] or Mr Ken at [email protected] if you have any questions. April 02 at 7pm in the GIS Main Hall. Dear Parents and Carers, Whilst the air quality and Covid-19 may have prevented a lot of out- door learning opportunities this month, there has still been plenty going on in school. Picture Frame Project Every student in Foundation and Primary has been working on designing and creating their own picture frame which will hold a pic- ture of themselves. As you can imagine, there are a variety of ways that the students and teachers have found of making the frames. Many of the students have also decorated these frames in a way that shows their unique personality! Inter-class learning Socialising and learning to work as part of a team is an important part of the GIS curriculum. The students get the chance to do this within their classes, between classes (especially house events, clubs and Wednesday afternoon activities) and sometimes between Primary and Secondary. Recently, some Secondary students wrote stories aimed at Primary – aged students. The stories were researched and targeted at the inter- ests and literacy level of the students who thoroughly enjoyed them. Improving the writing skills of the Secondary students and the read- ing skills of the Primary children is a win-win situation! Nursery classes visited the big bee farm in Pattaya! When we first got to the bee farm, Khun Pam gave us a tour and we looked at man-made bee hives.